Anyone know if its legal for sch to insist on adhd medication

Maysie

I will be speaking to IPSEA thanks.

tom9980

Maysie wrote: »

He has been boxed into a corner and no one is listening to him not surprised he had a meltdown he is trying to assert control to make him feel safe and less anxious. I know the signs and just let him vent then he calms down quicker. His meltdowns have been less and less extreme and more short lived. If you try and argue or calm him down its counter productive. I say as little as possible maybe my view and why and stop. Say i am not repeating myself and will talk to him when he is calm.

You know the signs. Does the school know? does he know the signs himself? long term if you can get him to recognise them and get him to find a coping mechanism he has a real shot at managing throughout his life with less intervention.

This is sort of the way my wife dealt with a child she had who had autism last year, the child would meltdown and start shouting, at first even biting or hitting children! my wife would intervene and ask her questions such as why are you shouting? and the child would shout back "I AM NOT shouting" her tone changing as she realised she was shouting. Her behaviour at the end of the school year was pretty good. Most of that progress this year has been lost by a poor teacher and parents who panders and gives into to her daughter often ignoring the bad behaviour.

What are the consequences for him when he misbehaves? as yet you mention nothing about that.

Mojisola

Maysie wrote: »

The teacher had to have a talk with son not in class as some boys thought it was funny to wind him up.

He sits by himself at school quite often as he gets distracted by others and he them. Seems to work well.

At the moment, he comes away from school and has a break from these boys. How will he cope when he is living with them 24/7? There won't be teachers with them all the time and the other boys will be a bit hyper through being away from home - will he cope/will they start to wind him up again?

When a large group of children are out on trips, there won't be many opportunities for one to sit quietly by himself. If that safety value is taken away, how will he manage?

fabforty

If he has been prescribed medication by a doctor, presumably because in their medical opinion, it is needed, why blame the school for insisting that he takes it? Or have I misunderstood something. Surely it's no different to any other condition?

Tiddlywinks

He is your son and you love him and want to do your best for him - that is understandable.

However, you need to see this through the eyes of the school as well... you need to work with them. I know you have asked for them to quantify and describe the afternoon behaviour and haven't received anything. Ask again, in writing.

When you are with your son you are able to give much more support than the TA or teachers... in a few years time your son will be moving into the adult world and you need to start working with others to prepare him for that.

ADHD / autism withstanding, your son will need to learn to comply with rules - that is just life.

You cannot use his 'condition' to always excuse his behaviour... just as someone with migraines will get everyday headaches and someone with arthritis will get twinges that are unrelated... it's not all about the 'condition' all the time.

The school needs to look after the educational environment of all of the class - and not just your son.

Tiddlywinks

Maysie wrote: »

I know there are 3 other boys they have concerns about in his class i have worked out who 2 of them are just from things my son has said and one of the mums i had a chat with briefly.

I don't think this is a good idea.

Every child is different - just because something works / doesn't work for one, doesn't mean it is relevant to another.

How would you feel if one of the mums came up to you and said they thought your child had a 'condition' and wanted to lump him in to a debate that might have nothing to do with you?

Maysie

No he didn't have medication while we were away . I had noticed big positive changes since i took aspartame out of his diet in November. Its amazing the foods they hide it in. We avoid anything that says sugar free for a start. I had stopped e numbers last year and noticed he was calmer generally.

Fieldsofgold

Maysie wrote: »

No he didn't have medication while we were away . I had noticed big positive changes since i took aspartame out of his diet in November. Its amazing the foods they hide it in. We avoid anything that says sugar free for a start. I had stopped e numbers last year and noticed he was calmer generally.

What normal parent would withhold prescribed medication from their child?

keep_flyin

The side affects of this medication are pretty severe (can stunt growth for starters) and doctors do recommend breaks from it, so it's not a case of with holding medication unnecessarily.

Alikay

I can see it from the school's point of view: It will be very hard for them to keep both your son, and the other children safe if he becomes upset and hard to manage. I've been in 1-2-1 situations with an ADHD/ASD child kicking off and it's very challenging: I can't imagine how hard that would be with a couple of dozen children and maybe only 3 staff, even before you factor in the environmental hazards like rivers, roads, cliff tops etc which are likely to feature in a school trip! I can't blame them for wanting your son's behaviour to be as controlled as possible via his medication.

Is there any way you could go on the trip too, to support your son? Obviously there would be CRB clearance and insurance to consider plus the costs of your own accommodation but they may be happy to allow you to join them. You, of course, wouldn't get your respite from him but perhaps you'd prefer this to him being medicated twice daily?